The fruit kids eat most is …

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Red fruits like an apple can be some of the healthiest foods to eat.

The fruit kids eat most is …

Red fruits like an apple can be some of the healthiest foods to eat.

WASHINGTON — How do you like them apples? Among kids, a lot, apparently.

Apples account for 18.9 percent of fruit intake among people ages 2 to 19 in the United States, according to the study published Monday in Pediatrics. Apples, along with apple juice, citrus juice and bananas made up almost half of fruit consumption.

Kids in the United States consumed 1.25 cups of fruit every day, on average, the study said. That’s within the range recommended by the 2010 dietary guidelines released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which say children should eat 1 to 2 cups of fruit per day.

But not all fruits are equal: Researchers noted that fiber-filled whole fruits are preferable to juices or dishes with fruits mixed in, which could add sugar, sodium and fat while losing some nutritional benefits of whole fruits. Whole fruits accounted for 53% of fruit intake, while fruit juices accounted for 34 percent.

“Liquid forms of calories have been shown to bypass many satiety cues and may contribute to excess caloric intake because people may not compensate for calories consumed in liquid form,” the study said.

Researchers calculated the fruit consumption of people ages 2 to 19 by analyzing more than 3,000 responses from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2011 to 2012.